Q. Am I allowed to sell any animals if I am restricted?

A. It is only permitted to sell animals that test negative from restricted herds directly to slaughter or to a controlled finishing unit.

This situation remains until the reactors are removed, the premises is cleaned and disinfected, and all the required skin and blood tests (if applicable) are carried out with negative results. Once the herd is derestricted, normal trading can resume.

Q. Can I sell cows after derestriction?

A. In general, you can sell cows after derestriction, however for certain categories of herds there is a restriction for a period on selling cows after derestriction.

If you are a breeding herd with 80 cows or more and either 5% of the exposed cohort test positive or 10 reactors, whichever is the lesser detected in the cow group, you cannot sell cows to other farms for two years after the removal of the last reactor. Note that cows may still be sold direct to CFU or direct to slaughter in this two-year period.

For breakdowns less than 80 cows or greater than 80 cows that do not meet the criteria for mandatory GIF (blood) testing, cows may be sold on the open market after derestriction.

Q. What are the changes for controlled finishing units (CFUs)?

A. CFUs can now accept weaned and unweaned calves from clear and restricted TB holdings. All categories of cattle are permitted to be sold into CFUs via online mart sales, including unweaned calves. There will be full enforcement of biosecurity and testing requirements for CFUs.

Q. What are the changes for dealers?

A. Where a dealer or associated herd number enter into a breakdown the dealer and associated herd numbers will be restricted. Each herd must undergo two clear skin tests prior to its derestriction.

Q. What is the meaning of the new definitions?

A. High-risk (H) breakdown: where three or more skin reactors in the one breakdown.

Exposed cohort: animals which have tested negative to a TB test but are or were in the same management group as reactor animals at the time of breakdown.

For example, an outbreak in dairy cows on a dairy farm, the exposed cohort is the cows in the milking cow group at the time of the outbreak. The exposed cohort would exclude replacement heifers or calves present at the breakdown test if there were no reactors in those groups of animals.

Relapse H herd: a herd with three or more reactors in a breakdown where there are reactors present in the same exposed cohort that were previously in a H breakdown in that herd, and at least one of the reactors at the relapse breakdown was present as part of the exposed cohort in the previous H breakdown.